Inside the smART Kinston Artist Residency Program, one artist stands out not just for his work but for his name. Known as Evil Bobs, he’s spent nearly a decade transforming everyday materials into striking mixed-media pieces that challenge perceptions, fears, and even the human condition.
“I’m Bobs. Bob was an ‘s’ because there are a million Bobs in the world, but I’m the only Bobs singular that I’m aware of,” he laughs.
For Bobs, art is more than a craft — it’s survival and self-expression. He’s known for working with inexpensive or discarded materials, breathing life into objects most would overlook.
“I just try to get my hands on whatever materials I can — normally cheaper stuff — and try to make something really great about it,” he explains. “If I came from very little and made something of myself, then I should be able to do the same with my supplies.”
One of his earliest memories of creating art dates back to age two or three, drawing a lizard — or maybe an alligator — for his grandmother. That instinct to create evolved into a career exploring fear, spirituality, and identity. His works range from deeply personal self-portraits to surreal installations like “The Woman with the Deer Head Inside and All the Wasps”, a haunting visualization of phobias and transformation.
He’s also behind one of Kinston’s most quietly powerful public art pieces: “The Red Queen Watering Her Own Roses” at the Mother Earth Garden, inspired by a friend’s mother who passed away.
“The building was cracked over time and had that cement,” he recalls. “I thought, that’s kind of ugly — I could do something with that. I just turned it into smoke coming out of the rose. It’s an ode to her.”
For Bobs, art doubles as therapy — a place where fears can be faced safely and transformed.
“Being an artist for me is the ability to create something entirely from my mind — something new that’s never been seen,” he says. “It gives me the opportunity to confront all the things that messed me up the worst.”
After nearly a decade in the smART Kinston program, Bobs has witnessed the power of community firsthand.
“Through the program I’ve made a great deal of friendships I never would have had otherwise,” he reflects. “Our art’s not alike at all, and here we are creating together. That’s the beautiful part.”
Despite the “Evil” moniker, his outlook is deeply hopeful.
“I think art could save us right now,” he says. “There’s a lack of creativity at war with explosions of creativity. Cities are becoming bland and empty. We need to start creating something beautiful again so we can branch from that and give more positive energy to people.”
Those who want to contact him can do so by email — “I’m still a weirdo about being watched,” he jokes — at bobsEvily89@gmail.com.
For Evil Bobs, art isn’t just about making something new. It’s about making something meaningful.